Heavy school bags linked to back pain in children

 　　LONDON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Children with heavy school bags are facing a higher risk of back pain, a latest study revealed.

　　A team of Spanish researches reported that the link was found in more than 1,400 school children aged¹ between 12 and 17 in Northern Galicia, Spain, according to a report on the British journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

　　The pupils were split into four groups based on the weight of their bags. Those in the group with the heaviest bags had a 50-percent higher risk of back pain, and a 42-percent higher risk of back pathology, compared with the group with the lightest bags.

　　A common back pathology in pupils is scoliosis, which is an abnormal curvature of the spine².

　　"The results obtained have strong implications," co-author of the study, Professor Alberto Ruano, of the Unviersity of Santiago de Compostel in Spain said in the journal.

　　"We strongly encourage the medical and educational community to start advising parents and school children about the risk posed by heavy school bags and the fact that this risk can be easily reduced," he added.

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。